A tape feeder is known as a supply device of electronic components in a component mounting device. By intermittently sending a carrier tape which holds electronic components, the tape feeder supplies the electronic components to a pickup position of a transferring head of a component loading mechanism. The carrier tape is pitch sent by a tape sending mechanism along a tape path provided in the body part of the tape feeder near the pickup position while the upper part of the carrier tape is covered by a cover tape and the carrier tape is guided. Thus, the electronic components are picked up by the transferring head of the component loading mechanism through a component takeout opening that a cover member is provided with at the pickup position.
The carrier tape which holds electronic components is generally supplied by being wound around a supply reel, and when a new carrier tape is installed, a tape installing operation is performed which inserts the carrier tape which is drawn out from the supply reel from a tape takeout part, and sets at the bottom side of the cover member in the pickup position. In this tape installing operation, complicated operations are required, that is, after the sending holes of the carrier tape are properly engaged with the sending pin of a sprocket which forms the tape sending mechanism, the carrier tape is pressed from above to the tape path by a pressing member to be set in the body part.
Therefore, in order to make the tape installing operation easy, a tape feeder is known conventionally in which a tape guide which guides the carrier tape near the pickup position is attachable and detachable to/from the body part, and which includes an exfoliating member in the tape guide which exfoliates the cover tape from the carrier tape (for example, refer to a patent document 1). According to this structure, the carrier tape can be set to the tape guide when the tape guide is detached from the body part, and there is an advantage that the operativity of the tape installing operation can be improved.